Amateur Radio Station WD8RIF | POTA Activation Strouds Run State Park

by William Eric McFadden

From the Strouds Run State Park website:

Several mounds and ancient fortifications were found in this area by early settlers telling us that the Adena Indians once lived here. In more recent history, this was home to the powerful Shawnee Nation until the Treaty of Greenville forced them to abandon their lands in southern Ohio.

The first European settlers arrived in the Athens County region in 1796. Two townships of land in the area had been apportioned by the Ohio Company in 1795 for the benefit of a university. The newly arrived pioneers were encouraged to settle on these college lands so as to make them attractive, productive and to form a fund for the institution.

This venture led to the founding of the town of Athens and Ohio University, the first college in the Northwest Territory. Settlers came by way of flatboats from Marietta down the Ohio and up the Hocking River to an attractive bluff where the town of Athens is now located.

With the discovery of rich coal fields in the area, Athens County soon developed into one of the leading coal producers in the state. The Hocking Canal and railroads provided easy means for shipping coal to distant markets. Clay tile, brick and salt were other industries that brought prosperity to the area.

The park derives its name from the Strouds family who settled in the area in the early 1800s. The land was purchased by the state for forest conservation purposes from 1948 to 1953. The dam creating Dow Lake was completed in 1960. The lake bears the name of C.L. Dow of Ohio University who was instrumental in initiating the project.

Pictures

Exercising the new telephoto lens: picnickers | Canada Geese

Description

On Sunday, February 4, 2024, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Strouds Run State Park (K-1994) as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

On an unseasonably warm Sunday morning, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, chose to attempt a quick POTA activation of Strouds Run State Park. Arriving at the swim-beach parking area at 1540 UTC, he parked his car, walked the little dogs Ginny and Theo, deployed his 28½' wire vertical on his 31' Jackite fiberglass telescoping mast on a drive-on base. set up his Elecraft KX3 inside his car, and was on the air at 1600 UTC.

As expected, Eric found he had good cell-signal at this location and he would be able to spot himself on the POTA Spots website (link) and to use POTA Spots to identify possible Park-to-Park (P2P) QSOs.

Eric began his operation on 20m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. Eric's first QSO came at 1602 UTC with N0SA in Missouri. QSOs came very quickly, with his twenty-third QSO coming at 1622 UTC with KF4CGP in Texas. This run included a P2P QSO with N6VHF at Corona del Mar State Beach (K-6447) in California, a P2P QSO with AE5X at Ocklawaha Prairie Restoration Area State Conservation Area (K-8364) in Florida, and QSOs with operators located in Missouri (2), Wisconsin (2), Idaho (2), Pennsylvania (2), California (2), Ontario, Texas (2), South Carolina (2), Alaska, Maine, Florida (3), Illinois, Oklahoma, and New Jersey.

Switching to 40m, Eric found a clear frequency to run, Eric began calling "CQ POTA", and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1627 UTC with WD4AWD in Tennessee. This band wasn't as productive as 20m had been, and Eric made only three additional QSOs in this run. At 1628 UTC he worked WB3DDJ in Pennsylvania, at 1629 UTC he worked KQ4EFU in Tennessee, and at 1630 UTC he worked N4VUG in North Carolina.

Eric completed his activation by consulting POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities. At 1634 UTC he worked N1BS at Hillsdale Preserve Management Area (K-10545) in Rhode Island, and at 1637 UTC he worked KA3QLF at Haynes Bottom Wildlife Management Area (K-3943) in Tennessee.

In all, Eric made twenty-nine QSOs, with four P2P QSOs, in thirty-seven minutes of operating time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for an operation at Strouds Run State Park, KFF-1994.